CHAPTER EIGHTEEN, BEYOND REPAIR
"I already told you I wasn't in Riverdale when Jason was murdered!"
Sheriff Keller sighed from across Lauren, rubbing his face in exhaustion as the other girl yelled in frustration. Lauren Davis sat in a white room, her hands were (for no reason) in handcuffs as her brown hair fell over her shoulders loosely, she kept her eyes closed because of her pounding headache that was yet to be treated for.
"Lauren, I need proof that you weren't in Riverdale, can you give me that?" Sheriff Keller questioned, sighing in defeat as he gave her a look of disappointment. "Look, I don't want you to be here."
"If you didn't want me to be here, I wouldn't be sitting in this seat." Lauren chuckled halfheartedly, speaking sarcastically as she gestured to the handcuffs and shook her head. "Was this necessary, Sheriff?"
The Sheriff breathed out, opening a file. "Look, your mother was and still is a prisoner, who's to say you aren't following in her footsteps and doing work for here? Also, you were constantly bullied by the soccer team, specifically Jason Blossom and his sister Cheryl along with Chuck Clayton, who you recently got suspended."
Lauren rolled her eyes, relaxing in the steel, hard stool. "Are you serious? I haven't seen or spoken to my mother since she was arrested, you and I both know this. Being bullied and taking it to murder is a pretty big accusation for someone like you, I assume."
"Funny, your friend Jughead said the same thing." Sheriff Keller mused.
Lauren's eyes widen, sitting up straighter with her brows shooting up, she had assumed she was in her a little longer than the boy. "Did he get out?"
The Sheriff nodded, causing the girl to breathe out a sigh of relief. "I need proof, otherwise, until I don't find the actual murderer you're stuck her, your friends requested to see you but left before I could tell them where you are."
Lauren slammed her head on the metal as she let a sad smile fall on her face, for some reason she had expected somebody to stay with her, at least putting up somewhat of a fight, at least Betty or Jughead, she had stopped expecting stuff from Archie. It hurt though, she felt absolutely alone in a situation like this, she wanted someone there to comfort, Lauren was starting to lose all sorts of hope from her friends.
Finally, she put her head up, remembering a certain document that was placed underneath her undergarments in her chest of drawer, it was basically buried in there but in times like this she needed it. Since Maya was out of the question, she quietly requested for someone else. "Do you think you could ask Betty to come?"
With that said, Lauren sat in the small square room, it had surely been a day since she was 'arrested for suspected murder' and Lauren was already exhausted, her eyes lids felt heavy on her eyes and she was sure there were dark under-eye circles around her eyes, she had hoped she didn't look as bad as she thought but she doubted it.
Lauren was still sitting in the hard stool, her butt aching and her back in immense pain as she almost fell asleep in her seating position, but she couldn't doze off in a holding cell. Lauren hadn't eaten anything for more than 24 hours and it was driving her crazy. The Sheriff had offered her a drink but she needed actual food.
"Lauren," Betty breathed out entering the small room, her blonde hair in a tight ponytail, she was dressed in her usual attire but her face showed an expression of worry. "I'm so sorry, I slept through all the calls and I should've stayed but my mom-"
Lauren managed to give her a weak and tired smile, shaking her head nonetheless. "I need your help, Betty."
Betty nodded almost immediately, taking a seat in the chair the Sheriff had previously occupied. Lauren opened her mouth again. "Listen closely, go to my house, in my room, I have documents that say where I was when Jason was killed, it in my first drawer, it's right next to my door."
"Lauren, why are you asking me? Why hasn't Maya come-?" Betty asked, shaking her head in confusion.
Lauren sighed, her face growing sad and solemn. "Maya left. I don't know where and I don't know how long but she left me. I trust you Betty, which is why I am begging you to do this for me."
"Lauren, I would do anything for you, in a heartbeat, but don't you think I finally deserve to know where you were for almost half of the year?" Betty argued, placing her hand on top of her own, soothing and comforting but foreign.
Nodding, Lauren responded. "I was getting treated, Betty. For my depression. It started when my mom was arrested and my dad left, Maya became distant and eventually so did I. Maya sent me there, she told me I need help because I was 'basically psycho'. Anyway, I tried to get better, I really did but that place was terrible, it still haunts me. That's where I was."
Betty opened and closed her mouth in shock, not expecting the truth to come out of the girl so quick but Lauren was tired of having to lie to her real friends about where she was and why she was there, the truth was hard but it was still true, and it was that she was sad, extremely sad and depressed with her life at the moment, and as much as she doesn't want to put it out there, she can't hide it, not anymore.
"Laur-" Betty started, ready to express her sympathy but the said girl stopped her.
"Just don't say anything, Betty." Lauren interrupted sadly, pulling her hand away as the blonde nodded, standing up.
"Just know, no matter what, it's you was there for me and I will be there for you, whenever and wherever. I'll be back as soon as I can. I'm glad to have you back." Betty spoke quickly, practically jogging out of the room, making Lauren huff as she put her head on the table on more time.
****
A few hours later and Lauren was on her way back home, a stressful morning was definitely the cause of her bad mood, but what waited for her when she returned to her abode she was unsure of what to do.
She sighed as she unlocked her house only to be met with a nauseating stench that filled up her whole apartment. The smell made her eyes water as she coughed hoping she wouldn't empty the contents of her stomach.
The brunnette furrowed her eyebrows thinking of any logical reasons her house was filled with a stomach-turning reek.
Opening the windows of her living room, Lauren walked into her bedroom, the stench only getting worse.
The first thing her eyes land on is the blood on her floor. Her eyes widen as a gasp escapes her lips. Her eyes roam around the room, the blood leading up to her bed. Lauren pulls out her phone ready to call the police as she nears the bedside.
Another soft gasp leaves her mouth. Her eyes water as she let's a sob escape her and she falls to the floor. Her breathe hitches as she wailed in pain, her body immediately on the floor. Lauren collapsed onto the floor,, heartbreaking screams leaving her throat, her head shaking furiously as she couldn't believe what her eyes were set on.
What Lauren saw was indescribably the worst experience in her whole life, she had encountered a fair amount of disgust and heartbreak but what she was experiencing now sucked away all the life she had in her body. Lauren was panting, on the verge of having an anxiety attack as her vocal chords basically were raw by the time she stopped screaming. Her screams were loud like a banshee, heartbreaking were her shrieks as tears leaked out of her eyes. Her heart was beyond shattered, feeling as if her heart was physically pulled out and beaten with a hammer.
A body, bloody, lay motionless on her floor. The body was easily recognized, on the floor lay Lauren's father. A man who she hadn't seen in almost 3 years, her crying over the body, shaking it vigorously hoping it would jerk him back to life
"Dad no! This can't be happening! Please! Wake up!" Lauren cried, tears falling down her face as she held the man's face and Lauren sat there, tears blurring her version like a hazy fog, she sobbed on his chest wondering why the world was so evil to her.
It was like she was falling all over again.
*****
The police had arrived to the scene, 30 minutes after The sheriff pitied the young girl who had just returned from the station, was sitting in the same positioncompletely numb to the world. It was unsure to her if it was her who called the police or the neighbors who stood in the doorway, frowns placed on their faces. Her body was still painted in her deceased fathers blood as if she was a broken canvas yet to have color on her.
Thoughts were running through her mind, Lauren heartbroken over the fact that she would never see her dad smile again, or laugh at her lame jokes, make his own lame jokes, she would never have a coffee with him or see him at the door when he returned to work but above all that the last memory of his would be his blood on her floor and his lifeless body left just beside her bed.
Kevin Keller had been looking for his dad when he found out about the Davis'. His first reaction was to call Betty but then he decided against it. He rushed into the house to find the Sheriff crouched in front of Lauren who was not even looking at him. The Sheriff stood up with a sigh as he looked at his son with a nod.
Kevin looked at the girl with sympathy as he walked forward. "Laur?"
The girl didn't even flinch at the voice and simply looked at the boy, the tears repeating it's previous action. She started to cry into the back of her hand. Kevin wiped his own mouth.
Kevin Keller was not an emotional boy but seeing his friend in this state hurt him as much as it hurt her. He reached forward and engulfed Lauren in an embrace where she cried into his shoulder.
"I just got him back, Kev." Lauren cried into his shoulder.
Kevin nodded his head bringing his large hand to stroke her hair as he contemplated what to do next.
After leaving Lauren in her bed with wet hair, making her shower to get rid of the red on her body, Kevin rushed into the home room during lunch period, the next day.
"Betty! Jughead!" Kevin exclaims as he approached the group, Jughead had his arm around the blonde as Archie smiled at him.
"Where were you? I've been texting you since yesterday." Betty asks.
"I was helping Lauren." Kevin says "You need to go see her, Jughead, she needs you right now more than ever."
" Wait, what?" Jughead asked this time, worry clouding his brain
"You guys didn't hear?"
"Okay, Kev, be a Little less vague please." Veronica interrupted.
"Mr.Davis. Lauren's dad was killed," Kevin gulped shaking his head. "And the killer brought the body to her house."
Gasps were heard around and the girls both looked at him teary eyed, the heartbreak they felt for the girl portraying on her face perfectly.
"I've never seen her so broken." Kevin admitted. "She wouldn't stop crying and when she did, she just collapsed. She was numb the rest of the time. She couldn't even blink. My dad said she was screaming like a banshee, blood on her sheets and her clothes, it was horrifying."
All of them immediately start to pack their stuff, hurrying as they wished to visit her as soon as they possibly could "Why didn't you tell us?" Archie asks.
"I thought you guys knew. I don't think all of you should go now, she didn't look like she wanted anyone around her, even the police said they would come back later. I think Jughead should go himself before you guys do." Kevin warned. "She didn't want any company."
Jughead nods, shaking his head, making his curl bounce with him, the boy didn't know how he was going to console her, but he believed he could help her to the point that she would be back to being herself.
****
Entering the room, Jughead felt a wave of nausea rushing over him. His eyes landed on the girl, tucked into her bed, her wet hair stuck to her face as she stared blankly at the wall ahead of her.
Jughead was unsure of what to do, but at the moment he was there to console his best friend who lay broken in her bed.
Lauren was used to losing people but this was something even she couldn't get through.
"Lauren?"
The girl snapped her attention to the boy standing in the doorway, she looked at him blankly before giving him a weak smile.
"Hey, jug." Her voice was raspy, it was cracking but she still kept her stand. Not wanting to deem herself insane.
Jughead shakes his head, the infamous curl shaking with him. "Laur,"
Lauren dropped the fake smile she was keeping and sat up with a sob, she was immediately engulfed in a warm hug crying on the boys shoulder, clutching his jacket.
"Jug,"
The girl was crying so hard the name slipped out of her lips without a warning, it was an automatic reflex, one that she was trying so hard to stay away from, she could barely manage to keep her own head up.
"I got you, Laur." Jughead wrapped his arms around her tighter, with hope it would fix her, grasping her so tight he was surprised she was breathing.
Lauren cried, somehow her tears weren't dry yet, shocking herself as she thought about how she could ever carry on now that the image of her father was forever imprinted in her brain.
The girl always spoke to him about hope. And how she hoped one day her father returned and she wouldn't live without a family but that was destroyed the minute the girl entered her house the day before.
Lauren Davis was a strong girl, she was unbreakable despite the rocks thrown her way. But now.
She was officially beyond repair, shattered like glass.
****
No words.
I don't really know what to say if I'm honest, I just know I have written this for a while and always knew I would write this since it's a crucial part of Lauren's character and her development into season 2 and so.
This chapter makes me sad. And don't expect more updates, I'm surprised I updated this quick but I couldn't leave yall hanging for too long.